Hokaito Zhimomi outshines Amit Chopra in final encounter
DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 26: Hokaito Zhimomi led Super Slammers (Guwahati) to a 17-run win over Brotherhood (Kohima) in the final match of the Sovima T20 Cricket Gold Cup on Wednesday at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima.
The final match was also a duel between two players with Ranji trophy experience: Zhimomi, who played for Assam in India’s premier domestic league, and Amit Chopra, a Ranji player from Uttar Pradesh.
Slammers won the toss and chose to bat, but the opening batsmen couldn’t control the game. But the introduction Zhimomi at No3, and his partnership with Ali, led the team past 100 runs mark. The partnership was brought to an end when Ali was run out. The Slammers bowlers brought the game in control when Zhimomi was caught out in the deep after scoring 45 runs. The first innings ended with 158 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
Slammers were off to a fine start as their openers collected 51 runs in the first 8 overs. With the dismissal of the opening batsman, Amit Chopra with his experience stepped into the game and shouldered the team towards the target. The middle overs saw the Slammers progress in pedestrian rate.
But some furious hitting by Amit Chopra towards the end gave the team hope, and the crowd something to cheer about. But the lack of support from the other batsmen got to him when he was caught out trying to go for the big one in the 19th over. His contribution of 69 runs was more than half of his team’s total. The Slammers could score only 137 runs from 20 over for the loss of 5 wickets. The man of the match was awarded to Jogesh Bhumij of Brotherhood who took 2 wickets in 4 overs.
